Editing Witch hunt (section)

==Anthropological causes==
{{further|Anthropology of religion|Human sacrifice|Witch trials in the early modern period#Causes and interpretations}}
The wide distribution of the practice of witch hunts in geographically and culturally separated societies (Europe, Africa, New Guinea) since the 1960s has triggered interest in the [[anthropological]] background of this behaviour. The belief in [[magical thinking|magic]] and [[divination]], and attempts to use magic to influence personal well-being (to increase life, win love, etc.) are universal across human cultures.

Belief in witchcraft has been shown to have similarities in societies throughout the world. It presents a framework to explain the occurrence of otherwise random misfortunes such as sickness or death, and the witch sorcerer provides an image of evil.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jean Sybil |last=La Fontaine |title=Speak of the Devil: Tales of satanic abuse in contemporary England |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-521-62934-8 |pages=34–37}}</ref> Reports on indigenous practices in the Americas, Asia and Africa collected during the early modern [[age of exploration|Age of Exploration]] have been taken to suggest that not just the belief in witchcraft but also the periodic outbreak of witch-hunts are a human cultural universal.<ref>{{cite book |title=Witches and Witch-Hunts: A global history |first=Wolfgang |last=Behringer |year=2004 |page=50 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=9780745627175}}</ref>

One study finds that witchcraft beliefs are associated with antisocial attitudes: lower levels of trust, charitable giving and group participation.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Witchcraft Beliefs and the Erosion of Social Capital: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa and Beyond |journal=Journal of Development Economics |volume=120 |pages=182–208 |doi=10.1016/j.jdeveco.2015.11.005 |first=Boris |last=Gershman |year=2016 |url=https://dra.american.edu/islandora/object/auislandora%3A70615/datastream/PDF/view |access-date=18 July 2021 |archive-date=18 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718231909/https://dra.american.edu/islandora/object/auislandora:70615/datastream/PDF/view |url-status=dead }}</ref> Another study finds that income shocks (caused by extreme rainfall) lead to a large increase in the murder of "witches" in Tanzania.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Poverty and witch killing |journal=The Review of Economic Studies |date=1 October 2005 |issn=0034-6527 |pages=1153–1172 |volume=72 |issue=4 |doi=10.1111/0034-6527.00365 |first=Edward |last=Miguel |citeseerx=10.1.1.370.6294}}</ref>